laddervslanderConfusable pair

Which to use

“ladder” and “lander” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,804
“ladder” frequency rank
#23,886
“lander” frequency rank
30690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ladder lander
Definition A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps). One who lands, or who lands something.

Where the eye mixes ladder and lander

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
ladder
6 ch
lander

Look-alike desk: ladder vs lander

A purely visual mix-up. ladder (/ˈlad.ə/) and lander ([ˈlændə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “ladder” becomes n in “lander”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ladder is recorded at frequency rank #6,804, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlad.ə/. lander is at rank #23,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlændə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30690, this pair ranks #352,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ladder vs lander

Shared letters: adelr. Private to "ladder": -. Private to "lander": n.

"ladder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lander" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ladderaldder · ladderr · laddre · ladedr · lader · ldader · lladder
  • landeralnder · ladner · landder · landerr · landre · lanedr · lannder · llander

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ladder" and "lander" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlad.ə/ versus [ˈlændə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ladder" or "lander"?
"ladder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,804 in our English list, against #23,886 for "lander". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ladder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lander" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #352,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ladder" and "lander" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lander vs laver". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #352,431 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list